Ex-symphony chief accused of embezzling

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The former executive director of the Peninsula Symphony Association in Los Altos has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars, authorities said Wednesday.

Stephen Jay Carlton, 45, of Novato, was arraigned last week in Santa Clara County Superior Court on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, forgery, identity theft and tax evasion. If convicted, he faces up to 18 years in prison. He is being held in lieu of $350,000 bail.

The investigation began in September when a bank alerted a member of the symphony’s board that its funds had an “unusually low balance,” prosecutors said. Symphony officials contacted Los Altos police, and Carlton resigned.

Authorities determined that Carlton had written numerous checks to himself from the symphony, using some of the money to pay off personal debts. Carlton allegedly forged the signatures of two board members on several checks and took out an unauthorized $25,000 loan on behalf of the symphony.

One symphony endowment went from $227,000 to $375, while another dwindled from $195,000 to $395.

The 65-year-old symphony hit a sour note with the embezzlement, which threatened its very existence, authorities said. But donations, including many given by the group’s board members, have enabled it to survive. The 90-plus member orchestra is now halfway through a full musical season.